Cafruny and Lankowski begin their exploration of the unity within the European Union with several premises. First, they contend that Europe already possessed a constitution. Second, they argue that the Treaty on European Union established a new set of problems while only partially resolving existing ones. Finally, they say that Europe faces intense pressures from both within and without to develop what the author’s call “novel forms of participation and legitimization.”
By examining the pressures and diversity present in different European states prior to the induction of the EU, and considering the stance of these same nation-state members of the union the authors hope to determine the true state of unity that exists between EU members today. Have the nations of western Europe formed an ambiguous unity, as the authors hypothesize, or does there exist a more solid foundation?